Ivory walks toward the bar in the distance called the Last Light. Unfortunately, she had to do some walking before arriving there. Lyra explained how to get to the bar before leaving to have to "attend to some urgent matters." Ivory had to follow the sign in the distance and walk a few miles to arrive at the next check point. The older woman had described that Ivory would have to get inside a glass tube that would take her to the top floor of the cave where the bar was.
The stores in this underground city were split up with some of the stores being on the ground floor and some of them being on the top floor. This glass tube would essentially act as a transportation device from the ground floor to the top floor and works by propelling people forward with powerful gusts of air. Once you reach the top of the glass tube, an additional powerful gust of air will be released to slow you down so people can safely exit the device.
Regardless of this dilemma, she had to reach the bar. No matter what it took. The young woman's curiosity that was fading was returning in small bursts. Her every thought now was focused on this mysterious creature who knew about her called Icarus.
She tested the name on her tongue, "Ic–ar–us. Icar–us. Icarus."
An idea dawned on her at that moment as she wandered through the streets of the underground city passing through a residential area.
Ivory says to herself, "There was a Greek myth about the name Icarus wasn't there?"
Icarus was the name of the young man that was given wings made of wax and feathers by his father, an inventor, called Daedalus. The two of them had been placed on a tall tower as a punishment for his father's transgressions and were unable to escape. Daedalus collected wax from candles and various feathers dropped by birds. After collecting enough of these materials, the inventor constructed wings for his son and him to escape with. He warned his son not to fly too close to the sun or the ocean as his fate would be to plummet into it. Icarus didn't listen to his father and flew too close to the sun. The wax and feathers melted off his arms causing him to fall from the heavens and sleep with the fishes.
That's where the idiom don't fly too close to the sun came from. Ivory began to contemplate as to why this creature called themselves Icarus? Did he have ambitions that cost him something greater than his life? Would this creature be an enemy or an ally? Nothing could be certain for now.
Ivory brushed past a nearby merchant dragging jars of tea bags inside of a shopping cart. The merchant had tried to persuade her to try some but she has had enough tea for a lifetime working as a barista.
If the merchant offered her something stronger she might have shown a little bit more of an interest. This mysterious creature was waiting for her. She shouldn't take too long sight seeing.
Nonetheless, all of this was something that she never experienced before. The mysteries of her world weren't fun to solve because she had no leads on why everything was going on. Could this have been a start? The very idea of understanding the world made Ivory smile brightly to herself. She might have had a chance to piece together this awful mystery.
Ivory watches her step carefully as the terrain suddenly becomes more muddy underneath her sneakers.
Ivory grits her teeth, "Great. Just why couldn't we have met up anywhere else?"
She loses her balance for a moment but quickly puts her arms out in a v formation to stay planted on the ground.
Ivory lets out a sigh of relief, "I'm glad my white coat isn't ruined at least."
She celebrated too early as she felt a pull on her leg and landed on the ground speechless. The sun burn on her forearm pulsates for a second before disappearing.
A small girl with messy hair points at Ivory standing in front of her, "You fall way too easily old lady. You should learn to keep your balance like me."
Ivory's confusion is replaced with a small grin, "You pulled me down didn't you?"
The child waves a hand dismissively, "I didn't pull you. See this?"
A sun burn appears on the child's face as they create a small ball of water lifting Ivory back up. The sun burn on Ivory's forearm pulsates for a second and disappears yet again.
The ball of water that lifted her up explodes from behind her and splashes her with water.
The situation made Ivory freeze for a second. Not just because of the cold water but the fact there were other people with sun burns down here. There were more people other than that old lady that were like her. This changed things heavily. Did the underground city serve to protect people who had the sun burn? She had to find Icarus to get all the answers she needed to know.
Ivory watched as the small girl ran away smiling at her successful little prank and joined her friends playing with a kite nearby. She shakes her wet short black hair with a smile now growing on her face. These simple times, even if they weren't so simple, reminded her of a world before the awful shift. A world that she could change.
Ivory watched as artificial wind blew the kite to propel it forward. She follows the gusts of wind and finds large fans built on the sides of the cave.
She stops for a moment to take the entire setting in. The cave had an almost vintage aesthetic to it like if it were an old painting. The big bright led ball on the ceiling lighting up the cave looked quite similar to the sun and was breathtaking. The more she looked. The more details she was able to find. The stores had logos she never heard of above ground. For example, GO-GO-GROCERIES, MACHINES & MORE, and CRY NO MORE.
The names were ridiculous. Though she worked at a place called Coffee World so maybe Ivory could give this world a pass on that. The world was such a serious place now but this world had something that her life above ground didn't have. There was imagination in this world created by the powers of the supernatural. Ivory was used to having the super natural create the opposite effect but it made her happy that she was wrong this time.
Ivory got up and shivered slightly at her clothes now drenched in cold water. The journey was going to be treacherous but she was almost there.
After a few miles of walking and losing her balance causing her to fall into the Earth multiple times, Ivory finally arrived at the vertical glass tube. She took a moment to catch her breath and entered the tube as it immediately pulled her inside.
Ivory screams, "I DIDN'T EXPECT THIS MACHINE TO GO THIS FAST."
In a second, an opposing gust of air slows her down as she reaches the top. The two gusts of air cancel out, allowing her to float in mid air and exit an opening in the glass tube. She gasps for air, kneeling on the ground for a second and slowly gets back up.
Ivory saw the red led lights lighting up the Last Light sign ahead of her. The bar looked like a modern day sports bar from the outside. How would it look on the inside? As she approached the door and opened it letting herself inside. She noticed how empty it was. There was no other person or creature inside.
Dozens of small light bulbs filled the bar area and other miscellaneous decorations. The drinks were lit up in the bartop with a warm orange led light making them look expensive despite their generic branding. The bar still looked like the textures had been missing in countless areas like the green walls but she expected this. This place was under no different laws than her world.
She closes the door behind her fully as a tall faceless entity with a smiley face mask comes from a small back door to enter the back of the bar.
Ivory freezes looking closer at her foe.
The faceless entity's smiley mask upon further examination made it look like it had been drawn by a child. The creature looked like it was injured from its hunching stature.
There were rods sticking out of the monster restricting its movement. The faceless entity must have been punished for something terrible.
Ivory composes herself and sits on one of the red bar stools.
Ivory says with her voice shaking slightly, "Are you… Icarus?"
The creature stays silent for a moment but responds in a deep voice, "Yes. I'm sorry. You must have a lot of questions. Let's start with who I am and what I want from you."